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Social Media Marketing for Home Builders

Home builders and social media may not seem like they go together very well. Social media marketing is typically seen as something reserved for ecommerce websites, product-focused companies, or brands with global followings —not custom home builders who may serve a small, local client base.

However, there are some home builders using social media with great success. How can you learn from their experiences with social media and incorporate this form of marketing into your other plans? Let’s explore how home builder social media marketing can work for you.

Why Social Media Marketing is So Effective

Social media networks like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube allow brands and businesses to engage directly with consumers and potential leads in a new way. Not only are they answering questions and exchanging comments one-on-one, they are also doing so in a public manner—so that everyone can see how the business responds to compliments or criticism.

Social media for custom home builders can be very effective for these same reasons. By giving you the opportunity to openly engage with those who may have questions about your homes, you are increasing the likelihood that they will choose you as their partner to build a new home.

Here are some home builder social media tips and ideas you can borrow to make your online marketing plans more effective.

Share Photos and Videos of Your Homes

One of the best ways to engage with potential customers who may be looking to have a home built for them is to share photos and videos of your projects on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or Instagram. This allows them to get a “behind the scenes” view of your work and see for themselves what your company can do.

How you use these different social networks to share photos may depend on the network. Pinterest is ideal for collecting photos or videos of homes in all stages of construction since you can organize them into multiple “boards” —for example, you could create a board for each home or project, or have boards for homes that have been completed, are in the planning stage, and so on.

On the other hand, Facebook may be best for one-off photos and videos, and Instagram may follow the same pattern. Experiment and see what your followers and fans respond best to, and what gets the most likes, shares, and engagement.

Ask Questions

One of your challenges, as a custom home builder, may be finding new customers. So one of the best ways that you can both attract new customers and find ways to identify why you aren’t acquiring as many customers as you could be is to use social media to ask questions.

Consider posting questions on Facebook and Twitter like:

What is stopping you from buying a new home?

What questions do you have about the construction process?

What do you consider a must-have in a custom built home?

Where did you hear about us?

Have you heard anything negative about custom built homes?

What would your dream home look like?

The answers to these questions could be very revealing. They could also create some amazing opportunities for discussions with potential leads. For example, someone who is casually researching custom builders might be on your Facebook page, see the last question your list, and answer it without realizing that you have a home model exactly like what they are looking for!

Social media is all about engagement. By asking questions, listening to the responses, and engaging with those who take the time to speak with you, you can learn a lot, improve your brand, and increase the likelihood that these fans will become a paying customer in the future.

Host Giveaways or Special Events

One fun thing that you can do with social media involves giveaways. No, you don’t necessarily have to give away a new house for free... but if you want to, go for it! It’d certainly drive a lot of great PR!

To keep your budget in check, however, consider partnering with a local business to give away something home-related on a monthly or quarterly basis. For example, you could give away a new set of luxury towels, satin paint in the winner’s choice of colors, a summer’s worth of yard treatments for weeds, and so on. By hosting the giveaway in a special tab on your Facebook page, or simply linking to its location on your website from social media, you’re increasing the likelihood that those on your social networks will follow you to hear about it, enter, and find out who wins.

There are always those who will follow brands just for “free stuff.” However, social media allows you to continue engaging with those who have opted into your pages regardless of the why – so even someone who initially followed you just because they wanted to win some towels may eventually consider you for their custom home needs.

Curate Content

Finally, those who have joined you on your social media pages are likely interested not only in home ownership, but also in home maintenance, some degree of interior decorating, and other relevant home topics, correct? By sharing relevant content with them, you can increase their appreciation of you, and show that you are interested in building a two-way relationship with them—not just getting them to buy something.

Content curation involves sharing links to relevant articles, blog posts, videos, and infographics created by both you and other companies (although not typically competitors). For example, you might post an article about interior design trends, or perhaps share a link to a blog post about maintenance tips for driveways—anything your target audience of homeowners would find useful.

Need Help With Your Social Media Marketing?

Home builders using social media may find it difficult for the first few months... but more importantly, they may find that they simply don’t have the time to build their pages and interact with their followers. If you’re struggling with this problem, WebpageFX can help.

As a leading full-service online marketing agency, WebpageFX can help you reach more followers, engage with them on all social networks, curate content, and set up any special events, giveaways, or promotions. Our monthly social media monitoring and reputation management plans are affordable, and we treat your pages like an extension of our own, leaving no comment or question unanswered.

If you’d like to find out how we can help your home builder company with social media, reach out to us today for a custom plan. You can also check out our Internet marketing tips for home builders. We can’t wait to hear from you!

Call 888.449.3239 or contact us online today to find out how WebpageFX, a leading social media marketing firm, can help your home building company reach more potential customers online.